In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to Harvard professor Sven Beckert about his new book Capitalism: A Global History.
Sven explains:
- Why the history of capitalism matters for understanding the present
- How most histories of capitalism are too Eurocentric
- How merchant communities in the medieval Muslim world and other regions laid the foundations of capitalism
- How European merchants learned from and interacted with merchants in the Muslim world
- Trust networks in global trade, including family, religious, and city-based merchant networks
- How capitalism and state power grew together
- European divergence: why Europe became central to capitalism
- Effects of Ottoman control and European geopolitical weakness on Atlantic expansion
- Role of conquest, slavery, and colonial expansion in building capitalist societies
- Tension between capitalism’s drive for unlimited growth and nature’s limits
- Challenges to neoliberalism from the left and the populist right
Find Sven on Bluesky: @svenbeckert.bsky.social
Visit Sven’s personal website: svenbeckert.com
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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.
Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.
This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small.
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